Parish priest linked to a homicide

The Panamanian Catholic Church separated priest David Cosca from his position as parish priest of the Divina Misericordia church, located in Paitilla

Sources revealed that it is a case of homicide that occurred at the El Panama hotel, at the beginning of last July, and that the victim was identified as Eduardo Calderón. The same sources revealed that the room in which the events occurred had been reserved in the priest’s name.

The archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa , confirmed that the Catholic Church made the decision to remove a parish priest from his post so that "justice can be carried out in the pertinent investigations." Without giving details of the identity of the priest, Ulloa also stated that the authorities of the Church have not been informed that there is an accusation against the parish priest.

The archbishop also said that the Panamanian Catholic Church will appoint a priest to be the spokesperson in everything related to the investigation that follows the Public Ministry . This designation will be made because the Church has the interest "to put things on the table". The archbishop, who was last week in Rome, stressed that the Church is collaborating with the judicial authorities.

"In the event that it is merited, following the concrete guidelines that Pope Francis has established and the protocols emanating from the Episcopal Conference of Panama, we will act in accordance with the law and the values ​​that govern us," said Ulloa.

The events took place on July 7, when Calderón entered with another person into a room of the aforementioned hotel. According to the investigations carried out, an argument would have arisen, which ended when the victim was dealt a severe blow to the head that caused his death.

The alleged culprit of this homicide, is in preventive detention, after the Superior Court of Appeals of the province of Panama resolved an appeal filed by his lawyer, Holland Polo .

The prosecutor of the case, Patricia Herrera , of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Homicide and Femicide Section, argued that it has enough elements to link the accused, including images from the hotel’s cameras, the necropsy protocol and an interview of the forensic doctor, among others.

At the moment, Cosca was separated from his position, but he has not been charged or ordered precautionary measures.